Wojtek bear beer

Yesterday afternoon we visited a micro-brewery in a local town called Filignano, about 20 minutes drive away. The brewery is called Kashmir, in hommage to their favourite band, Led Zeppelin. They create a wide variety of beers, which they sell across Italy. Apparently the names of the beers came to them in substance induced dreams, for example: 'La morte sua', which means your death, which also has a holiday and tropical version!? Who knew There is also Red Monk, and Street Cow.

There are a couple of beers that link to the history of the town of Filignano, during World War two, which was at the centre of vicious fighting. The first beer is called Wojtek, which was named after the liberating Polish army' mascot, which was a black bear called Wojtek. Apparently the bear would carry supplies, and the soldiers taught it to drink beer and smoke cigarettes.

Winterline, the second linked beer, was the name given, by the American military, for the Gustav, Barbara, Adolf Hitler and Bernardt Lines, which ran from east to west through mountainous terrain. These lines were peppered with German fortifications such as machine gun pits, barbed wire, concrete bunkers and and minefields. The main defences were around Monte Cassino, through which ran Highway 6, a road which leads directly to Rome.

14 September 2025

These defensive fortifications slowed the allied advance, towards Rome, to a snail's pace. Deaths on both side were huge; 90,000 allies and 60,000 axis.